Exploring Relative Size with Relative Risk

ABSTRACT

To facilitate people using mathematical reasoning to compare risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the COViD-TASER (Creation of Visualizations of Data The Application of STEM Education Research) research team to create the COVID-19 Relative Risk Tool (RRT). The RRT uses an interactive bar chart to display COVID-19 infection and vaccination risks alongside more familiar risks like driving, contracting breast cancer, playing soccer, and skydiving. To involve students, the authors developed and tested elementary, middle, and high school lesson plans that use the RRT. Each lesson is aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM, NGA Center and CCSSO 2010) for both content and mathematical practice, and each plan pursues two goals (1) making comparisons of relative size of quantities, and (2) interpreting these relative sizes to understand COVID-19 data. For teachers who wish to incorporate more real-world contexts in the mathematics classroom and are unsure of how to start, the authors hope that their structured, pretested lessons plans provide a starting place for to help students make connections between the classroom and their everyday lives.